The clock is ticking for President Barack Obama. With merely days left in his administration, there is very little he can do that will leave a lasting legacy.

Typically at this time a sitting President will do his best to make the transition smooth and problem-free. Even with a rival, he will ensure the future President can hit the ground running, able to tackle America’s problems with lasting support from the previous administration.

But this is Obama we’re talking about. Despite pleasing words immediately following the election and a seemingly amicable meeting with Donald Trump, Obama is back to his old tricks of saying one thing and doing another.

It seems that he wants to make the Trump presidency as fraught with problems as possible. His latest actions against Russia over rumors of hacking—despite real evidence—will only create tensions between the U.S. and Russia just as Trump takes over.

Thanks, Barry.

But it seems like Putin is taking a longer view, and is doing something no one saw coming.

From Zero Hedge:

Following this morning’s reports that Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov would recommend to Russian President Vladimir Putin a retaliation in kind, and expel 35 American diplomats, saying that “we cannot leave such acts unanswered. Reciprocity is part of diplomatic law” with Putin spokesman Peskov adding that “there is no doubt that Russia’s adequate and mirror response will make Washington officials feel very uncomfortable as well”, it was ultimately up to Putin to decide how to respond to the US.

Which he did on Friday morning, when in a stunning reversal, the Russian leader took the high road, rejected the Lavrov proposal, and in a statement posted by the Kremlin said that Russia won’t expel any Americans in retaliation to US moves, in a brutal demonstration of just how irrelevant Obama’s 11th hour decision is for US-Russian relations.

The punchline, however, was saved for what may be Russia’s final slam of the debacle that is Obama’s administration saying that “It’s a pity that the current U.S. administration is finishing their work in such a manner” saying that Russia refuses “to sink to the level of this irresponsible “kitchen” diplomacy.”

Even during the campaign, the Democrats were trying to provoke Russia. Hillary Clinton openly stated that her embarrassing email leaks were caused by Putin and Russian hackers, clearly antagonizing the superpower.

Once the election was in the books, the liberal media and Obama himself kept making Russia out to be the scapegoat for Trump’s win, even though we’ve yet to see concrete evidence to support their claim. Their irresponsible rhetoric is only laying the ground work for conflict between the United States and Russia, who has been acting more aggressively in Europe and the Middle East as of late.

It’s clear that Obama and Hillary wanted to goad Russia into some kind of conflict, whether to push all the blame for Syria onto their shoulders, or for some other nebulous reason. Perhaps Hillary really wanted war with the super power, as a distraction from her other plans.

But with Trump soon to take the White House, it’s clear that even Putin is hopeful for the future. We will see a U.S.-Russia relationship that will be mutually beneficial. Perhaps our president will even be able to work with the man, instead of antagonizing him.